Home › Research › Prevention and risk
Mild cognitive impairment in older people
Burns A, Zaudig M.. Lancet (London, England), 2002-12-01
Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies
Context As public awareness of Alzheimer's disease increases, more people are asking for help and advice about memory problems. Memory complaints may be secondary to psychiatric, psychological, and physical conditions and is an almost universal early symptom of dementia. The concept of amnestic mild cognitive impairment attempts to describe those people in whom memory loss is not of such severity to merit a diagnosis of dementia. The importance of this group of people is not just the need to develop interventions which ameliorate individual suffering but that they represent a population at high risk of developing dementia, especially Alzheimer's disease, and are an appropriate target for dementia prevention strategies. Starting point K Kantarci and colleagues (Dement Geriatr Cogn Disord 2002; 14: 198-207) looked at the diagnostic accuracy of magnetic-resonance hippocampal volumetry and spectroscopy in patients with mild cognitive impairment, in normal older people, and in patients with Alzheimer's disease. Hippocampal volumes and N-acetyl aspartate/creatine spectroscopy were the most sensitive assessments discriminating people with mild cognitive impairment from Alzheimer's disease. Combination assessments were better at discriminating these two groups from normal controls. The histological underpinning of cognitive symptoms in older people has been demonstrated by the Cognitive Function and Ageing study (Lancet 2001; 357: 169-75), which showed that a third of people with no clinical evidence of dementia had histopathological hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease. WHERE NEXT? 25 million people across the world have dementia. Mild cognitive impairment, if a validated concept, represents an opportunity for preventing dementia. As more information becomes available about the cause of Alzheimer's disease and prospects emerge for prevention, identification of predementia states offers considerable scope to reduce the individual and societal cost of the illness. Continued validation of the criteria for mild cognitive impairment and studies of intervention should be a priority. As more evidence becomes available highlighting the relatively arbitrary nature of dementia diagnosis (based largely on interference with activities) and interventions become available for the prevention of dementia, mild cognitive impairment and related conditions will become more important.
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
APA 7th
Burns, A., & Zaudig, M. (2002). Mild cognitive impairment in older people. Lancet (London, England). https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(02)11920-9
Vancouver
Burns A, Zaudig M. Mild cognitive impairment in older people. Lancet (London, England). 2002. doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(02)11920-9. PMID: 12493278.
BibTeX
@article{burns2002-12493278,
author = {Burns, A. and Zaudig, M.},
title = {{Mild cognitive impairment in older people}},
journal = {Lancet (London, England)},
year = {2002},
doi = {10.1016/s0140-6736(02)11920-9},
pmid = {12493278},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(02)11920-9}
}
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
Key findings
- The histological underpinning of cognitive symptoms in older people has been demonstrated by the Cognitive Function and Ageing study (Lancet 2001; 357: 169-75), which showed that a third of people with no clinical evidence of dementia had histopathological hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease.
Why it matters
This article describes amnestic mild cognitive impairment as a state in which memory loss is not severe enough to merit a dementia diagnosis, and notes that this group is at high risk of developing dementia, especially Alzheimer's disease. It also reports that a third of people with no clinical evidence of dementia had histopathological hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease, and it offers no treatment or cure.
New to this subject? Start with our plain-English guide: Prevention →
Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 48/100
Published in a top-tier journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 10 / 10 | Tier 1 — top-tier general journal (Lancet (London, England)) |
| Journal's citation record | 4 / 4 | The Lancet: journal h-index 1,205 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 1 / 5 | 2002 — older than 20 years, still counted |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 0 / 3 | Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 5 / 7 | Cited 255 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 3 / 5 | 9.8 citations a year over 26 year(s) since 2002 |
| Impact for its field and year | 4 / 6 | Cited 10.0× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 2 / 6 | Cited by 8 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 2 / 4 | Cited 21 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 2 / 4 | Last-listed author Michael Zaudig: h-index 36 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 1 / 3 | University of Manchester: institution h-index 1,304 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 1 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 2 institution(s) in 1 country |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 12493278) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Total | 48 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
May need a subscription OpenAlex found no free copy of the full text (checked 6 Feb 1020), so the publisher may charge for it. The PubMed abstract is free.
Studies this one cites
Referenced by this study and also in the alzhub library, so you can read them here. Showing 12 of 13.
Later studies that cite this one
8 studies in the alzhub library list this one in their references.
Related studies in Prevention and risk
Also tagged “examination”
840 studies in the library carry the topic tag “examination”; these are this study's neighbours in a fixed, alphabetical-by-hash tour of them, not the closest in content. All 840 tagged studies.